Zita Elze

Zita Elze is delighted to have been appointed RHS London Floral Artist in Residence for 2018. Award-winning floral artist, designer, teacher, creator of the Living Embroidery Collection and design consultant, Zita studied artistic bookbinding in Paris, followed by Interior Design at London’s KLC School of Design and Garden Design at the Inchbald School of Design, where she graduated with a distinction.

She won the prestigious Design and Decoration Award ‘Graduate Garden Designer of the Year 2003’ and opened her eponymously named first shop in Kew in the same year.

In 2009, Zita won a silver-gilt medal for her first major exhibit, entitled A Celebration of Life, at the Chelsea Flower Show, where she revealed her ground-breaking floral embroidery technique.

Her stand, including a living embroidery gown, based on the theme of Sleeping Beauty won the Editor’s Gold Design Award at Brides The Show in October 2014.

Zita was delighted to win the Editor’s Gold Design Award at Brides The Show again in October 2016.

Brazilian by birth, Zita has spent her adult years in Italy, France, Germany and England. She is a broadly educated designer with an individual and distinctive approach. Combining an unerring sense for the beautiful with an unusual degree of creativity and a fine sensitivity to her clients’ (often hidden) aspirations, she delivers imaginative concepts with scrupulous attention to detail and quality. Her background, skills and intuitive approach yield creations which clearly stand out from the “artificially artistic”.

One might best describe Zita’s style as a blend of the following:

Brazilian fantasy – drawing on the naturalistic inspiration absorbed during a childhood spent on her grandfather’s fazenda in the Brazilian state of Bahia;
English gentleness – reflecting her appreciation of the painterly colours of garden flowers, subtle landscape tones and the soft qualities of the natural light in her adopted home country; and
Japanese rendition – pointing to the refined precision, clean spirit and meticulous attention to detail in all of Zita’s designs, from the country that introduced us to the tea ceremony, the aesthetics of stone gardens and Zen.

“I would love to say everything comes directly from the soul. I really do not think of a recipe on how to put a design together, rather I let it happen naturally.” Zita Elze

“When we need fabulously styled flowers for the Brides cover shoot, one of the first calls we make is to Zita. Her level of creativity is so impressive and she never fails to deliver something that is completely magical.” – Brides Magazine, July 2013

“Undoubtedly one of the most talented floral artists in the world. Zita’s original vision and creative concepts know no bounds. Her work is nothing short of breathtaking.” – Annabel Beeforth, founder and editor in chief, Love My Dress, Little Book for Brides, September 2015

“You can always rely on Zita to create something imaginative and ahead of the game, but this year at Brides The Show I felt she topped all expectations …” – Jade Beer, editor, Brides magazine, October 2016